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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26067442">Afterimage</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashengem/pseuds/HittingOnAllSevens'>HittingOnAllSevens (ashengem)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>S.C.I.谜案集 | S.C.I. Mystery (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship, mentions of canonical almost death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:13:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>606</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26067442</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashengem/pseuds/HittingOnAllSevens</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bai Yutong still sees that scene when he closes his eyes.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bái Yùtáng/Zhǎn Zhāo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>78</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Afterimage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bai Yutong couldn't sleep.  Since the confrontation between Zhan Yao and that dubious doctor and Zhao Jue, every time he shut his eyes all he could see was Zhan Yao lifeless on the rocks.</p>
<p>He'd thought he was <i>dead</i>.  </p>
<p>He left the bedroom and made his way to the kitchen.  He'd hidden the envelope containing Zhan Yao's letter under the the bottom of the flatware drawer.  Yutong removed it, and sat on the couch wearily.</p>
<p>He was tired, <i>so tired</i>, but the thought of closing his eyes and seeing that.... He just couldn't do it.</p>
<p>So, he sat there on the couch, wrapped up in the mouse blanket, holding what Zhan Yao thought might be his last goodbye.  He wondered what it said, but he wouldn't open it.  Like he was afraid of it.</p>
<p>Yutong didn't know how long it had been, but his head popped up when he heard a noise coming from down the hall.  </p>
<p>There was Zhan Yao, alive, and walking towards him.</p>
<p><i>Not dead on the rocks</i>.  Something in his chest relaxed, like a muscle he didn't know was clenched.</p>
<p>"Go back to sleep, Cat!"</p>
<p>That's when Zhan Yao saw what Bai Yutong was holding. He hissed, and narrowed his eyes.  "I thought you said you lost it in the water!  Give it back!"  </p>
<p>Zhan Yao lunged at Bai Yutong, stretching for the letter that was held high over Bai Yutong's head.  Unfortunately, this mouse was much stronger than him, and said mouse was doing a splendid job keeping the letter just out of his reach.  After some struggling, Zhan Yao conceded defeat, and settled next to Bai Yutong on the couch.</p>
<p>"I'm keeping it," Bai Yutong said, evenly, like he was giving the time.  </p>
<p>Zhan Yao opened his mouth to protest, and an aborted little sound came out as Bai Yutong held up a hand to stop him.</p>
<p>"Ah ah, I'm not gonna read it.  But I..." Yutong felt his own face grow solemn as he contemplated the letter once more, and the image of Zhan Yao on the rocks again floated in his mind.</p>
<p>"I thought I wasn't in time.  I...I thought you were dead, Cat."  He was staring at the envelope in his hand.  He was almost scared to look at Zhan Yao's face and what he'd see there. Or rather, what Zhan Yao would see on his face that frightened him.</p>
<p>"Yutong, I..."</p>
<p>"Don't.  It's fine. <i> You're</i> fine, <i>I'm</i> fine. We survived to see another day."   He took a deep breath that shuddered through him.  "You have...<i>absolutely no</i> sense of self-preservation!"  He let the anger of the statement run through him, steadying his mind, and clearing his face of anything else.  He glared at Zhan Yao.</p>
<p>"I'm not always there!  You need to take better care of yourself!  You can't even use a gun properly!  Can you even swim?  I thought you could, but I'm beginning to doubt that now, since I had to <i>drag you out of the water myself</i>!"</p>
<p>Zhan Yao's eyes were so wide, and his eyebrows all the way up to his hairline.  "I...I...Mouse, I..."</p>
<p>Bai Yutong closed his eyes and sighed.  "Cat, just...take better care of yourself.  You're not...you're not replaceable. And you don't actually have nine lives."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry."</p>
<p>Yutong swatted him with the envelope.  There was nothing to forgive.  "Go to sleep."</p>
<p>Zhan Yao rose from the couch and made his way back to the bedroom.  </p>
<p>As soon as Bai Yutong saw the door was closed to the bedroom, he made his way back to the kitchen.  He put the letter back under the drawer.</p>
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